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Man Haron Monis
Manteghi Bourjerdi (1964-15/16 December 2014), also known as Man Haron Monis or Sheikh Haron, was an ayatollah in Australia, originating from Iran. In 2014, he was responsible for the taking of several hostages in a Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Martin Place, Sydney. At 2:44 AM on 16 December 2014 (2:14 PM on 15 December in the United States), having killed two hostages, he was gunned down by Australian police that stormed the cafe. Biography Manteghi Bourjerdi was born in 1964 in Iran, and worked for a travel agency. However, he was known to have a history of violent crime and went into exile in Australia with $200,000 of his customers' money, living in Bexley North in New South Wales. He was a former Shi'ite Muslim, but later converted to Sunni Islam. Monis had no real title in the Islamic community, but declared that he was an ayatollah and a religious leader (although many Islamic organizations were quick to confirm that he was not a verified imam). Known as "Sheikh Haron", he led a hate mail campaign against the families of fallen Australian Army troops that had fought in the Afghanistan War, claiming that their sons were murderers - it was common for Muslims in Coalition countries to oppose the war on fellow Muslims. He chained himself to the courthouse in protest of his prosecution for the acts of offense through mail, and was arrested when he threatened to expand his hate mail to families of United Kingdom soldiers that had fallen during the War on Terror. Monis was banned from using the Australian Postal Service due to these hate crimes. In November 2013 he was arrested for stabbing his ex-wife Noleen Hayson Pal and setting her on fire, and in March 2014 he was arrested for the sexual abuse of a young girl, one of many charges pressed against him for sexual abuse. Late in 2014, Man Haron Monis declared his allegiance to the Islamic State, an unrecognized state in Iraq and Syria that was forged by international jihadist fighters. In 15 December 2014, he was declared to be the man who took around 30 hostages in a Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Sydney, an event that began on 15 December. Monis declared that he had a political motivation, and he forced some hostages to carry the Islamic shahada banner in order to make an Islamist statement. At 2:44 AM on 16 December 2014 (2:14 PM on 15 December in the United States), Man Haron Monis was killed after Australian police threw flashbangs into the cafe and rescued the hostages. Two hostages were killed in the incident, which was followed shortly after by the Peshawar School Massacre, the fictional Ghent Apartment Siege (made up by a man who called Belgian police, saying that four hostage-takers were in control of the building), and the North Korean terrorist hacking of Sony Entertainment and terrorist threats against the actors, directors, and movie theaters that showed the movie (which resulted in the movie "The Interview" being cancelled after most of the movie theaters refused to show it). Category:Australian imams Category:Imams Category:Australians Category:Iranians Category:ISIL Category:Killed Category:1964 births Category:2014 deaths Category:Sunnis Category:Australian Islamists Category:Iranian Islamists Category:Islamists Category:Converts to Sunni Islam from Shia Islam